- ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick has a lengthy feature on Adam Jones and the possibility of whether he’ll remain with the Orioles beyond the 2018 campaign. Crasnick speaks with Jones, manager Buck Showalter, GM Dan Duquette and Jones’ teammates in highlighting how important Jones has been to the organization and to the city of Baltimore as one of the faces of the franchise for a decade. Jones noted that given his impending free-agent status, he’s “obviously” hoping to put up big numbers but emphasized that his focus is on trying to right the ship in Baltimore after an ugly start to the season for the O’s. Duquette tells Crasnick that the team “absolutely” considers things like charisma, appeal to fans and intangibles such as leadership when placing a valuation on a player and praised Jones’ impact on the organization and Baltimore community. One anonymous GM noted to Crasnick, though, that Jones is the type of player who could be the “type of guy who gets to free agency and is a little disappointed” — a reference to Jones’ questionable OBP skills and declining defensive ratings in center field. O’s fans in particular will want to check out the column, as it gives a terrific look back at Jones’ legacy in the Charm City.
Orioles Rumors
Orioles Activate Trumbo, Place Sardinas On DL
- The Orioles announced that they’ve activated Mark Trumbo from the 10-day DL for his season debut, though they also had to place infielder Luis Sardinas on the DL in his place due to a strained lower back. Sardinas’ DL placement is retroactive to April 29, and defensive specialist Engelb Vielma is up from Triple-A to take over Sardinas’ infield duties for now. Pedro Alvarez’s resurgence at the plate could prompt Trumbo to see some time at the outfield in order to keep Alvarez in the lineup at designated hitter. Jace Peterson figures to get starts at second base until Jonathan Schoop returns.
Poll: What Last-Place AL Team Is Likeliest To Turn Its Season Around?
With one day left in April, we’ve already seen a wide gulf emerge within the American League standings. Three clubs (the Red Sox, Yankees, and Astros) are on pace to surpass 105 wins, while six teams are also currently on pace to win fewer than 70 games. By comparison, only six teams in all of baseball failed to surpass the 70-win plateau in 2017.
Obviously, it’s still very early, and there’s plenty of baseball still to be played for these struggling teams. Three teams, however, will head into May in the basement of their respective divisions, and in those cases, a slower start could be much harder to overcome. The Rangers, Royals, and Orioles all faced rather tricky paths to contention even in the best of circumstances, and their poor April records may force them to make some hard decisions about how long they’re willing to go before considering selling pieces at the trade deadline.
Let’s check in on the three last-place teams to see which has the most potential to make April simply a “slow start” en route to a respectable or even a contending season…
Rangers (11-18): With Adrian Beltre, Elvis Andrus, and Rougned Odor all on the disabled list, Texas fans are beginning to have some unpleasant flashbacks to the team’s disastrously injury-plagued 2014 campaign. Still, while the injury bug explains the lack of offensive production, the Rangers’ pitching situation has looked as shaky as it appeared to be heading into the season. Other than the surprise continuation of Bartolo Colon’s late-career renaissance, it’s been mostly bad news for both the rotation and the bullpen, with Martin Perez, Matt Moore, Matt Bush, Alex Claudio, and Kevin Jepsen all getting off to particularly tough starts.
The team’s big infield trio may not all be back until June, so can the Rangers at least tread water until then? It doesn’t help that the rest of the AL West teams are all at the .500 mark or better, though the Angels (+5), Mariners (-2), and A’s (+3) are all nothing special in terms of run differential. (Of course, Texas is a miserable -39 in that department.) The Rangers will need more arms to step up if they are to turn their season around, plus some internal reinforcements have already come in the form of Delino DeShields and Tony Barnette, who are both back after lengthy DL stints of their own. Top prospect Willie Calhoun could also provide more help for the lineup, though Calhoun is off to a quiet start at Triple-A this year.
Orioles (8-20): The Orioles and Rangers share pretty similar tales of woe. Baltimore has also been hurt by a tough division, a lack of quality starting or relief pitching, plus several key injuries — Zach Britton and Mark Trumbo have yet to play a game, while Jonathan Schoop, Tim Beckham, and Colby Rasmus are all on the DL. Manny Machado’s individual brilliance has been tempered by a lack of hitting from almost everyone else on roster, with Chris Davis standing out as the single worst position player by fWAR (-0.6) in baseball so far this season.
Dan Duquette unofficially cited Memorial Day as the date when teams begin to evaluate where they really stand in a season, so the O’s therefore have just under a month to get on track. That might be enough time to get at least some of the injured parties back, plus it’ll give time for Alex Cobb to hopefully start rounding into form given that the late-to-sign righty has a 13.11 ERA over his first three starts. On paper, Baltimore has too much hitting talent to be as bad as they are at the plate, so you figure that at least some type of positive correction is in store.
Royals (7-20): The Royals held off on a full-fledged rebuild over the winter, though their decision about whether to try for another playoff run may have been made for them by their lousy April. The Royals entered Sunday’s play with the fewest runs in the majors, as only Mike Moustakas and Jorge Soler were putting up good numbers at the plate, and some quality returns by the starting rotation have been undermined by arguably baseball’s worst bullpen. Even with closer Kelvin Herrera still boasting a perfect 0.00 ERA through 9 2/3 innings, the road to Herrera has been plagued by potholes, as the relief corps is collectively at or near the bottom of the list in just about every major statistic.
One bright side for the Royals? Their competition. The AL Central has been baseball’s worst division through the first month, with the first-place Indians holding just a 14-12 record. As bad as Kansas City has been, the Royals are still just 4.5 games back of the second-place Tigers. Since the White Sox and Tigers are rebuilding and the Twins are struggling to recapture their 2017 form, there is some opportunity for the Royals to regain some ground if they can beat up on their division foes.
Which of the AL’s last-place squads do you think has the best chance of recovering from its shaky April? (Link for app users)
Mark Trumbo To Return From DL On Tuesday
- Mark Trumbo is slated to be activated from the DL on Tuesday, with the Orioles already optioning Joey Rickard back to Triple-A today to create roster space. Trumbo will be making his season debut after missing six weeks with a quad strain, with the slugger looking to personally rebound from a poor 2017 season and also add some pop to an Orioles lineup that has struggled to score runs this year. The O’s figure to use Trumbo as a right-handed hitting complement at first base, DH, and right field, as those positions are respectively occupied by lefty-swingers Chris Davis and Pedro Alvarez, and switch-hitter Anthony Santander. Manager Buck Showalter also told media (including BaltimoreBaseball.com’s Dan Connolly) that Luis Sardinas will be placed on the 10-day DL due to a bad back, and Engelb Vielma looks to be the likeliest candidate to replace Sardinas as the utility infielder.
Rosenthal On Manny Machado's Future
- The Orioles will trade impending free-agent shortstop Manny Machado this year, but it’s not going to happen until closer to the July 31 non-waiver deadline, says FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (video link). Despite Machado’s best efforts, the Orioles are off to a nightmarish start (7-20) and already sit 9.5 games out of a wild-card spot. Nevertheless, they’re not ready to consider dealing key pieces yet, according to Rosenthal. The team just spent a combined $76MM on free-agent pitchers during the offseason, after all, and has been without injured veterans in second baseman Jonathan Schoop, designated hitter Mark Trumbo and closer Zach Britton for most or all of the season. Both Schoop and Trumbo figure to come off the disabled list soon, which should give the O’s a better chance to climb back in the race, though they already looked like playoff long shots even before losing 20 of 27 to open the year.
Dan Duquette On Orioles' Early Struggles
Things aren’t looking good for the Orioles, who are off to a 7-19 start and stuck in a division with at least two potential World Series contenders in the Red Sox and Yankees. Nevertheless, “it’s a little early” to tear things down, according to general manager Dan Duquette (via Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com). “We’ll probably give it a little bit more time. Usually, Memorial Day is the marker to evaluate a ballclub and see where you’re at and see where you want to go,” Duquette continued. “Other clubs have had the same time to evaluate their ballclub and see what they need. So I think that’s probably a good marker.” Assuming the Orioles don’t return to relevance in the next month, they could have the hottest trade commodity of the summer in superstar shortstop Manny Machado, who has been tremendous this year, and other possible trade candidates such as free agents-to-be Adam Jones, Brad Brach and Zach Britton.
Jonathan Schoop Nearing Rehab Assignment
- Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson is beginning his rehab assignment tomorrow, as the team announced. He’ll open as a DH as he eases back into action, though the real test will come when he puts his throwing back on display at game speed. There’s similarly good news for the division-rival Orioles, who expect to send second baseman Jonathan Schoop on a brief rehab assignment next week, as Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets. He has been out for two weeks with an oblique strain.
Hardy Reportedly Happy At Home; Reunion With O's Unlikely
- Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tackles a host of Orioles questions from readers in light of the team’s awful start to the season, with topics ranging from the slow starts by Alex Cobb and Chris Tillman to the eventual promotion of Austin Hays. Of note, Kubatko reveals upon being asked about a possible J.J. Hardy reunion that the longtime O’s shortstop “seems quite content at home with his family.” Kubatko notes that he even broached the idea with some within the organization after Tim Beckham’s injury and was told that no one within the org seems to think that Hardy is reconsidering his current situation. The 35-year-old Hardy spent the past seven seasons as Baltimore’s primary shortstop but hit .217/.255/.323 through 73 games in an injury-plagued 2017 season and didn’t sign anywhere as a free agent this winter.
Tim Beckham Out At Least Six Weeks Following Core Muscle Surgery
Orioles third baseman Tim Beckham will be out of action for at least the next six weeks after undergoing core muscle surgery, the team told reporters (Twitter links via Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com). Beckham was placed on the DL yesterday and was said at the time to be considering surgery as an option.
The injury will leave the O’s quite shorthanded in the infield, as Jonathan Schoop is also on the shelf. Ghiroli, though, notes that Schoop is headed to extended Spring Training following the team’s homestand and could begin playing in rehab games next week. Mark Trumbo, too, is nearing a return and could join the team on Tuesday.
[Related: Baltimore Orioles depth chart]
It’s been a dismal start to the season for the 28-year-old Beckham, who is hitting just .179/.247/.262 with a 30.1 percent strikeout rate. Baltimore had high hopes for Beckham, who looked like a transformed player after being acquired just prior to the non-waiver trade deadline last season. Beckham batted .394/.417/.646 in the month of August and looked to have altered his approach at the plate, as he also boasted a dramatically reduced 18.9 strikeout percent that month. The punchouts came back in September, though, as Beckham’s production cratered. He’s now carrying a .179/.251/.306 line through 191 PAs dating back to Sept. 1.
With Beckham and Schoop sidelined, the O’s figure to deploy Danny Valencia at third base, with Luis Sardinas and Jace Peterson on hand as options at second base and also at third when Valencia is out of the lineup.
Should Orioles Begin Marketing Machado?
- Rosenthal goes on to discuss a few other subjects of note, including some hypothetical trade suitors for Orioles shortstop Manny Machado. As Craig Edwards writes at Fangraphs, Machado seems to be a clear mid-season trade candidate given the O’s putrid start to the season and his pending free agency. Edwards gives the numbers on just how deep a hole the Baltimore club appears to be in, arguing the team ought to begin listening to offers even if it decides to wait and allow bidding to drive up the return for the star infielder.
